Transgender Model Becomes Face Of Chanel's New Ad Campaign
Teddy Quinlivan first trans model for the brand
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It seems that alienating 90 percent of your target demographic has become a popular marketing strategy for global luxury brands, so Chanel Beauty has enlisted a transgender model as the face of its ad campaign.
The brand has followed the lead of Victoria's Secret and Playboy, claiming it is "making history," in what seems to be another virtue signaling marketing strategy.
It seems Chanel hasn't learned any lessons from Men's razor company Gillette, who announced a U-turn after its recent toxic masculinity 'woke-advertising' backfired causing a massive quarterly loss.
"Chanel Beauty is making history: the new face of the iconic fashion house is also one of the industry’s hottest names," reports NY Daily News.
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"American Teddy Quinlivan, the 25-year-old transgender model who has taken the fashion world by storm since she was discovered by Louis Vuitton’s creative director Nicolas Ghesquière in 2015, is a fierce activist for equality."
Quinlivan, who is a biological male identifying as a woman, came out as transgender in 2017, fearing the move would sink her career.
"She drew universal applause by some of the big names of global fashion such as designer Marc Jacobs and British makeup artist Pat McGrath, one of the most influential makeup artists in the world according to Vogue and one of the world’s 100 most influential people," the outlet continued.
Quinlivan announced the news on Monday via Instagram, declaring it a triumphant moment for transgender people.
"I find I don’t cry anymore when things are sad, but isn’t it interesting when we shed tears in moments of triumph," Quinlivan's post began.
"This was one of those triumphant cry moments for me. My whole life has been a fight. From being bullied at school consistently, kids threatening to kill me and going into graphic detail how they were going to do it, my own father beating me and calling me a f**ot, to receiving industry blowback after speaking publicly about being sexually assaulted on the job."
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Quinlivan added that the Chanel Beauty selection makes the past struggles "worth it."
She added she was deeply humbled to represent the transgender community.
"I had walked 2 shows for Chanel while I was living in stealth (stealth meaning I hadn’t made my trans identity public yet) and when I came out I knew I’d stop working with some brands, I thought I’d never work with the iconic house of Chanel ever again," Quinlivan continued.
"But here I am in Chanel Beauty Advertising. I am the first openly trans person to work for the house of Chanel, and I am deeply humbled and proud to represent my community."
Chanel's trans inclusion comes just weeks after Victoria's Secret included Brazilian transgender model Valentina Sampaio among its roster.
Playboy introduced its first-ever transgender playmate in 2017.
The move caused a massive backlash, with former porn star Jenna Jameson leading the way on social media.
"I have a problem with it just like I have a problem with a transgender person competing against biological women in sports," Jameson tweeted.
"I think it's setting fire to an iconic brand and pandering to this ridiculous PC world we live in."
